Portable tray and truck.



A. G. MONIVEN. PORTABLE TRAY AND TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1909.

955,187. Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

45751522427 61% ZW/z,

ALEXANDER C. MCNIVEN, 0F LANGDON, NORTH DAKOTA.

PORTABLE TRAY AND TRUCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 21, 1909.

Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

Serial No. 497,392.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER G. M0- NIVEN, a citizen of the United States, re-

' siding at Langdon, in the county of Cavalier and State of North Dakota, have invented a new and useful Portable Tray and Truck, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wheel supported trays of that type particularly designed for use in kitchens and dining rooms of hotels and the like, its object being to provide a device of this character having a light and durable frame capable of being folded into a compact bundle while being stored or transported.

A further object is to provide a device of this character having a tray body which is removably mounted upon the supporting frame. v

Another object is to provide a wheel supported frame including a caster wheel mounted in a novel manner whereby the en-' tire device can be readily guided.

Vith these and other objectsin view the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and the combination of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown. I

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a rear perspective view of the complete device. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view partly in-section and partly in elevation of the caster and of the bearing therefor. 1

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1 designates a supporting strip having forwardly extended end portions 2 merging into downwardly inclined parallel side strips 3, the lower end ortions of which converge forwardly as indicated at 4 and are'securedto a V shaped casting 5 provided at its forward end with a head 6 through which extends a bore 7. A yoke 8 is arranged below this head and has a caster wheel 9 journaled therein, there being a shank 10 extending upwardly from the yoke and hearing within the bore 7, said shank being provided near its upper end with an annular groove 11. A retaining screw 12 extends into the head and projects into the groove 11, this screw servin to prevent the shank from dropping out o the bore when the front end of the device is lifted. A screw 13 is arran ed in the upper end of the bore 7 and constitutes a thrust bearing for a ball 14 which is interposed between the screw and the upper end of the shank 10 this ball being designed to receive all of the end pressure rom the shank.

Arranged in the same horizontal plane with the strip 1 is a front supporting strip 15 similar to the strip 1 and having rearwardly extending parallel end portions 16 merging into downwardly and rearw'ardly inclined side strips 17. These side strips are provided at their lower ends with depending portions 18 and interposed between the side strips 17 and said depending portions is a yoke 19. Supporting wheels 20 are journaled between the lower ends of the side strips and the adjoining ends of'the yoke and suitable spacing blocks 21 are preferably interposed between the side portions of the yoke and the side strips. The intermediate or crown ortion of the oke is j riveted or otherwise secured to a cross bar 22, the ends of which are extended at right angles as indicated at 23 and are connected to the side strips 3 and 17 by means of ivot pins 24 which may be in the form of olts, rivets or the like.

Braces 25 are detachably secured at their upper ends to the rear supporting strip 1 and these braces cross and are secured together as indicated at 26, the lower ends of the braces being detachably secured to the lower portions of the yoke 19. Obviously these braces serve to hold the strip s3 and 17 in fixed relation. The supporting strips 1 and 15 and their end portions 2 and 16 constitute bearings for the marginal flange 27 of a tray 28, there being grips or handles 29 upon the sides of the tray for the purpose of facilitating the manipulation thereof.

As heretofore stated the device herein described is especially adapted for use in kitchens and dining rooms of hotels and the like. It is the intention to use it for conveying dirty dishes from the dining room to the kitchen where the tray 28 containing the dishes can be removed from the supporting strips 1 and 15 and deposited within the sink while another tray 28 can be substituted and used for conveying clean dishes or the like back to the dining room. When the device is to be stored the braces 25 can be disconnected and the two pivotally connectr ed sections of the supporting structure can necessary to first remove the tray 28.

By arranging the front caster in the manner described it can be readily turned to either side and the device thus easily guided. It will be noted that the ball 1& receives all of the weight and therefore friction is reduced to t e minimum and the caster rendered ve sensitive to lateral pressure.

It is 0 course to be understood that various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of its parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

What is claimed is 1. A device of the class described comprising pivotally crossed members each formed of a continuous length of material shaped to form side members and an intermedlate supporting member, wheels mounted upon the ends of said lengths of material, a tray detachably supported by and extending between the sup orting portions of the crossed members, and means connecting the supporting portions of one member with the side portlons of the other member for hold-' ing said members against independent move ment.

2. A device of the class described comprising a member consisting of side strips and an integral intermediate supporting strip, all of said strips being formed in a continuous unjointed length of material, wheels mounted upon the said strips, a second member consisting of side strips and an intermediate supporting strip, said side strips and intermediate strip, being formed in one piece and the side strips converging toward their free ends, the two members being crossed and pivotally connected, a supporting caster connected to the converging side strips, :1 tray removably mounted upon and extending between the supportin strips, and means connecting the sup ortmg strip of one of the members with t e side strip of the other member to hold said members against relative movement.

' 3. A device of the class described comprising wheel supported frame members each consisting of a supporting strip and side strips extending therefrom the side strips of one of the members extending between and being pivotally connected to the side strips of the other member, a yoke carried by one of the frame members, a cross bar secured to the yoke and connected to the side strips of the two members, supporting wheels journaled between the yoke and the adjoining side stri s, a caster connected to the side strips of t e other frame member, means for holding the two frame members against independent movement, and a tray movably mounted upon the supporting strips of the two members.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER O. MoNIVEN.

Witnesses:

W. A. MCINTYRE, E. E. FLETCHER. 

